Tourists continue to shun Zimbabwe

Source: Zim Online (SA)

Date: 8 December 2004

Author: Anon

Harare - International tourists continued to shun Zimbabwe because of the country's negative image with 29 percent less arrivals between January and September this year compared to the same period last year, according to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. In its latest report released this week, the ZTA said efforts by the government to shift focus from traditional markets in the West to China and the Far East did not pay off with 1 271 904 people visiting Zimbabwe in the first nine months of the year compared to 1 793 128 visitors between January and September 2003. The ZTA is a quasi-government institution and is regarded as the voice of the country's ailing tourism sector. The authority said: "Causes of the decline (include) continued negative publicity (and the) lack of resources to counter negative publicity in source markets." A drop in the number of major airlines landing at Harare international airport as well as the impact of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States were also cited as some of the reasons for the decline. Only British Airways and South African Airways still land at Harare international airport after more than a dozen international airlines that used to land there stopped owing to fuel shortages gripping Zimbabwe for the last four years.

Tourism was the country's fastest growing economic sector four years ago but is crumbling - just like everything else in Zimbabwe - as visitors shun the country because of lawlessness, political violence and its poor human rights record. The ZTA said major source markets that experienced decline over the period under review include the United Kingdom and Ireland which recorded a 33 percent drop from 47 667 visitors in 2003 to 31 710 in 2004. Visitors from Germany dropped by 64 percent from 8 087 during the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year. There were 2 916 visitors from Switzerland between January to September 2004 compared to 7 906 arrivals from Zurich during the same period last year. Australian visitors plummeted by 38 percent from 23 478 to 14 437 and South Africa had a 33 percent decline from 713 866 visitors last year to 369 066.